Waking Up with Numb or Tingling Hands: What It Really Means (Science Based)
Feeling like you have electric shocks in your fingers
Tingling sensation that travels the length of your arm to your shoulder
Weakness and difficulty gripping objects tightly
Inflammation in your finger joints or wrist
Tingling or numbness in both your hands and feet
Numbness on the back of your hand
Burning pain when feeling returns to your hands
Reasons for Waking Up with Numb or Tingling Hands
Let’s look in more detail at some of the most common reasons why you feel your hands tingle or are numb in the morning.
Sleeping in the wrong position
Sleeping in a position that puts pressure on your hands during the night is a common reason for waking up with tingling hands. Depending on how long the pressure has been on the nerve, you can wake up with a feeling as if your whole arm has fallen asleep.
The journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery published a study showing that hand tingling and numbness in the morning is associated with the sleeping position. Researchers discovered that sleeping on your side in a lateral sleep position reduced instances of hand paresthesia in the morning.3
Some poor sleeping positions that can result in waking up with numb hands include:
Sleeping with your head on a crooked arm
Falling asleep on your back with one or both arms outstretched above your head
Sleeping with an arm under your body
Some of these sleeping positions can also result in waking up with a sore shoulder.
Saturday night palsy
Another sleep-related reason for waking up with the feeling as if your whole arm has been paralyzed during the night is “Saturday night palsy.”
The journal Neurosurgery reports that the term “Saturday night palsy” is coined from people falling asleep drunk against a firm object. The alcohol intoxication usually prevents a person from waking up despite the arm or hand pain. The result is usually that the person wakes up with numbness in one hand in the morning and a thumping headache.4
